Defense lawyers are already pointing out, Johnston reports, that there’s no evidence that Blagojevich actually received any of the money or job offers he was apparently after, and he hadn’t yet made any Senate appointment in order to get it.

Though Governor Blagojevich’s discussions of the matter, taped by the FBI, were certainly colorful, whether his actions were illegal may fall into a legal gray zone.

After all, is what he’s actually done so far all that different from politics-as-usual — in which government officials reward big-money donors with plum government jobs and political favors?

“This town is full of people who call themselves ambassadors, and all they did was pay $200,000 or $300,000 to the Republican or Democratic Party,” Washington defense lawyer Robert Bennett told Johnston.

We don’t call that criminal. But should we?